A caricature of women in general? Perhaps. Or an elaborate irony? It seems Katherina's spirit is tamed, that she is reduced to submission. Controversial because of its anti-feminist message? Or controversial because in its day there was a queen on the throne and Elizabeth was hardly a woman whose spirit could be tamed, hardly a woman unable to make her own eloquent statements about the competence and capacity of women. To denounce women, to humiliate women, would be to denounce and humiliate one particular woman, and Shakespeare could hardly afford to make such an enemy; the price might be his head.

"The Taming of the Shrew" is an eloquent play which relies heavily on wordplay and witty banter, its dialogue coming in machinegun bursts. It is a play which cannot simply be read - it has to be watched in production (ideally after you've read through it a couple of times). The Royal Shakespeare Company recently put on a hugely popular production (with Alexandra Gilbreath playing Katherine), but they do not seem to have released it on DVD. See a live production if you can, or invest in the BBC's earlier recording of Jonathan Miller's RSC production.

However, review of the play is one thing, the crucial factor for the reader is the quality of this book. The New Penguin Shakespeare edition provides a robust little paperback which easily fits into a pocket or bag: print and paper quality are adequate, but the page size leaves little room to scribble notes or annotations (perish the thought). The play occupies 106 pages of text. You get a further 82 pages of commentary, explaining meaning and context, line by line. It's very useful and informative, either for the casual reader or, certainly, for the student.

There is a further ten page section of textual analysis, a couple of pages on further reading and a 38 page introduction. This is actually quite a lucid, intelligent, and helpful analysis - once you get past the first page. The first page of the introduction will put many readers off. It is heavy, verbose, obtuse, prosaically purple - you get the picture? The first couple of paragraphs need a textual analysis of their own! Thereafter, the analysis becomes much more fluid and accessible, and makes numerous valid points which the student will need to note and note again.

An excellent little production, perhaps not as robust as some editions - particularly as student copies will be bent and buckled to destruction. If you are studying the text, try to collaborate with your friends and buy different editions of the play so you can swap the introductions and commentaries. Excellent, economical little volume.